Though the Indian music system is ancient and one of the highly- developed musical systems of the world, the study and application of the therapeutic aspects of this music has witnessed severe ups and downs. Once lauded in literature such as Raga Chikitsa and known to the ancient yogic systems of sound vibrations as nada yoga, the Indian concept of therapeutic music stands almost lost to antiquity, due to want of patronage. While Indians accept the entertainment value of music, many of them still harbour doubt whether music could be therapeutic. Recent developments in the west particularly in the United States, where thousands of professional music therapists are involved actively in medical and para-medical institutions, rehabilitation centres, homes for the elderly, psychological and psychiatric facilities have caused certain re-thinking now among Indians, more particularly among those who practice medical professions.
In an attempt to understand the perception of Indian medicos, a survey was launched by the Chennai-based Nada Centre for Music Therapy recently. The opinions sought from the medicos indicate encouraging results that music therapy has a greater role to play in the days to come in the sub-continent.
The excerpts of the survey would reveal the minds of the medicos in so far as the importance of music therapy goes. Dr. Sumana Premkumar, a Radiation Oncologist is of the view that hypertension, depression, age-related and all stress-related disorders can be addressed well by music. He is also confident that music can be analgesic. However, he has reservations and wonders whether mental retardation is curable with music. He is of the view that music therapy can help, particularly during pre-surgery and post-surgery. Music, he says, is an aid for making the primary treatment effective. He is of the view that it is not classical or film music or tribal music that can be therapeutic. “Any music which is capable of touching a person’s soul”, according to him, could be healing.
Dr. Vijayakumar, also a Radiation Oncologist, is of the view that music can never address mental retardation. He is of the view that unless the patients have some basic exposure to music, the latter cannot be therapeutic for them. He doesn’t find the need to use music during counselling sessions, though he recommends it as a post-surgery measure.
Prof. (Miss) C. V. Raman, an eighty-year old obstetrician and gynaecologist is of the clear view that all cardio-vascular ailments respond to music, as several other ailments which are caused by malfunctioning of the mind (e.g., anxiety, tension, phobias, obsession) can be cured with the help of music. For insomnia too, she recommends music therapy. According to her music which is familiar (as for example, regional music) would be more effective than alien music.
Dr. A. Sugandhi, a pathologist and a blood- bank specialist feels that in order to retain the efficacy, the music session can be for around thirty minutes. She is of the view that both vocal and instrumental forms of music can be useful for such therapeutic sessions. She finds that while certain forms of music make us “feel solemn and melancholic”, there are others which “elevate your mood, make you want to dance!” She feels that an ideal music therapist should be a coordinator and conductor of sessions – a combination of psychiatrist, general physician and of course, a humanist.
Dr. P. Balamuralikrishna, a medical microbiologist emphasizes on the palliative role of music in human lives. He doesn’t foresee the knowledge of the patients for responding to music; all he emphasizes is the conditioning of the patients’ minds for music they receive during the therapy sessions. According to him, even in the midst of work, music can play a proactive role. However, the choice of music — whether vocal or instrumental- for therapy sessions is, according to him, subjective. Personally he feels that a “soft, female, mature voice” in classical (Carnatic or Hindustani style) can be better suited for therapy sessions. For him, the music therapist need not play the role of a general physician, though he should be a humanist and a social scientist.
Dr. I. Jyothi Padmaja, a microbiologist, who had learnt to play veena in her childhood, feels that psychological, chronic pain responds to music. She is of the view that music therapy should be administered in combination with other medical interventions. She feels that fast-paced music cannot be therapeutic. She says that she has no hesitation in recommending music as a complementary medicine for treating age-related disorders, depression, hypertension etc. and also as analgesic.
Dr. G. Mukuda Kumarity, a fertility-specialist, who has a musical background in light music feels that apart from other ailments, music can be used in overcoming short tempers and irritability encountered in many people. According to her, music therapy sessions can be held ideally during early morning or afternoon. It is better that music is listened to by the patients while lying down on the bed. Some bits of music can be listened to in the midst of work too for a few minutes – to pep up the mood!
For Prof. Ravi Kumar, who is an M.D. in general medicine, music can prove therapeutic for “almost all” ailments. He gives importance to the patient’s likes and dislikes in respect of the choice of music for therapy sessions. For him, early morning or late evening are ideal for therapy sessions. He feels that a music therapist should essentially have a background of general medicine and subjects such as musicology, psychology, psychotherapy, neurology etc. should dovetail. He also suggests creation of a music therapy department in medical colleges.
Dr. Ravi Venkatachelam, a cardiologist who learnt Carnatic music for a few years opines that stress, psychological and multifactorial disorders respond to music. He also stresses that the patient should have a final choice on the form of music as then only will he or she be interested in undergoing the therapy sessions. He, however, feels that structured musical compositions (e.g. songs) would be therapeutically more effective than unstructured alaps or alapanas.
For Dr. (Ms.) M. Suryakumari, who has specialized in paediatrics and neonatology and who had learnt kirtanas of Saint Annamacharya, music therapy can be recommended “to certain extent” to address depression, anxiety and hypertension in people. There is no need for the patients to have knowledge about music. She doesn’t find any raga or for that matter, any form of music as “non-therapeutic” and she recommends the “intake” of music “early morning, during eating, before going to bed, and at the time of taking medicine”. According to her, the best mode of administering music is while relaxing or while lying on the bed. She feels that background knowledge of paediatrics is necessary for the music therapists, who should also have an adequate exposure to subjects such as musicology, general medicine, psychology, neurology and psychotherapy.
Based on the findings of the survey, Nada Centre for Music Therapy has chalked out a distance learning programme in music therapy. This programme, which can be followed sitting at a home computer, aims at turning out an army of music therapists in India in the near future! For there is an increasing need for addressing mind-related problems in infants, school children, teenagers, professionals and retired people in a gentle and effective way. Music alone promises this.
This article was published in Shanmukha – October – December 2009 – Pages 35 to 37
Edited by Geeta Shreedar, July 28, 2021